Once in groups ranging from US white supremacists to Irish nationalists to European Islamists, these ex-extremists have formed a network to support each other as they try to help people avoid the errors they made.

Ireland's reputation as a devoutly Catholic and conservative country is being defied by the prospect of becoming the first nation to approve gay marriage by referendum. But it's not as odd as one might think.

With neither the Conservatives nor Labour likely to win a majority in the May 7 elections, a coalition is almost certainly in the cards – and Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party a possible partner.